PAGE 172
ACCOUNT OF THE TREATY WITH THE KING AT PREDA.
good presage of ane blessing, and shewed what men some were
minded to make use of. But howsoever all these came. When
we were come to Bredah, it was put on my Lord Cassills to make
some speech to the king at our first receiving, and on me to make
ane other speech after him in name of the Church. This speech I
did prepare, wherin were some things a litle free, such as I thought
became ane minister to speak concerning the king himself and his
father's house, and the counsells and wayes he had followed. This
speech I did communicat, first to the commissioners of the Church,
after to those of the State; but it was once and again so altered with
delations and additions, that it was nothing like itself. Everything
that was thought harsh behooved to be delate, and some things
added such as would be thought most savorie in the entry of the
treaty to the king and the court. I thought it was not my part
to stand peremptory for ane paper of my own drawing, and they
told me that I was not to show my own minde, but theirs. Thus
I agreed to all. So dangerous it is for ane man of [a] simple disposition
to be yoked to1
these who by witt, authority, and boldness, can overmaster
them.2
When we began first to keep any meetings, the commissioners
of the State did choose Cassills to be president, and after continued
him dureing all the time. Some of us at first thought this a benefite
to have him president of whom we had most confidence; but
we did find that
thereafter3
ane disadvantage; for ordinarly Lothian, Liberton, and Sir John Smith, agreed in one voice, and that
sundry times such as some of us were not well satisfied with.
Now there were to be of ane contrary opinion only Mr Brodie and
Alexander Jaffray; and thus three being against two, carried it,
the president not having place to give his
voice4
but where there is ane equality. Some of our number urged once that the treaty
might5
be by word of mouth, and not by papers; but that motion
was rejected. The drawing up of the
papers6
to be presented to
the king was committed by those of the State to Mr Brodie, and
**************
1
"With."
2
"Him."
3
"Find it afterwards."
4
"Vote."
5
"Should."
6
"Papers."
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PAGE 173
by those of the Church to Mr James Wood, wherin this oversight
was committed in the very first papers, that the words and purpose
of the instructions were not fully keeped, but both in the order
and matter somewhat was altered or left out by them that drew
them up, and more thereafter was altered upon debate in the
meetings; whether for exornation of the language, or not to seem
to be tyed to words and order of them, or to make things smooth
in the beginning, or if there were any design in some that debated
the alterations that
something1
might not be mentioned at first,
which they haveing sounded the mind of the court, found would
not easily be granted; but we found it did harm thereafter, when
those of the court alleadged we behooved to rest satisfied with that
which was in our first papers.
We had access to the king upon Tuesday, yet no papers of the
treaty were delivered to him till the Munday following, which was
some neglect of diligence, the Parliament having limited the treaty
to thirty dayes, and only granting ten dayes more in caice it were
perceived that there were appearance of an good agreement at
these forty dayes' end. And after delivering of
the2
first papers, Lothian, Liberton, and Sir John Smith, went
to3
Antwerp and Brussells, and stayed some eight or ten dayes, so that when the
king had given us his first papers the Saturnday following, no
return could be made to him, through the absence of them, till the
Wedensday or Thursday of the next week.
We found the king of an courteous and tractable like disposition,
which made some of us suspect that if all of our number had dealt
alike earnestly, especially Lothian and Liberton, who most frequently
and privatly resorted to court, but most of all Liberton, that
the king at the first had granted all our desyres fully. The reason
we thus suspected was, because we found these things the king
stuck most at, those of our number in debate at our meetings
argued that he should not be so much pressed in them; alleadging
frequently that Commissioners had alwayes power to manage
**************
1
"Some things."
2
"These."
3
"See."
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